Persuasive Techniques in Advertising The persuasive strategies used by advertisers who want you to buy their product can be divided into three categories: pathos, logos, and ethos, Pathos: an appeal to emotion. ‘An advertisement using pathos will attempt to evoke an emotional response in the consumer. Sometimes, it is a positive emotion such as happiness: an image of people enjoying themselves while drinking Pepsi. Other times, advertisers will use negative emotions such as pain: a person having back problems after buying the “wrong” mattress. Pathos can also include emotions such as fear and guilt: images of a starving child persuade you to send money. Logos: an appeal to logic or reason, An advertisement using logos will give you the evidence and statistics you need to fully understand what the product does, The logos of an advertisement will be the "straight facts" about the product: One glass of Florida orange juice contains 75% of your daily Vitamin C needs. Ethos: an appeal to credibility or character. ‘An advertisement using ethos will ry to convince you that the company is more reliable, honest, and credible; therefore, you should buy its product. Ethos often involves statistics from reliable experts, such as nine out of ten dentists agree that Crest is the better than any other brand or Americas dieters choose Lean Cuisine. Often, a celebrity endorses a product to lend it more credibility: Catherine Zeta-Jones makes us want to switch to T-Mobile. Practice labeling pathos, logos, and ethos by placing a P, L, or E in the blank 1, ____A child is shown covered in bug bites after using an inferior bug spray. 2. __ Tiger Woods endorses Nike. 3 Sprite Zero is 100% sugar-free. 4, __A32-07. bottle of Tide holds enough to wash 32 loads. 5. ____ commercial shows an image of a happy couple riding in a Corvette 6. ____ Cardiologists recommend Ecotrin more than any other brand of aspirin. 7. ___ Advil Liqui-Gels provide up to 8 hours of continuous pain relief. 8. ____Miley Cyrus appears in Oreo advertisements. 9, ____ People who need more energy drink Red Bull Energy Drink. 10. ___ Amagazine ad shows people smiling while smoking cigarettes.Advertising Techniques/ Language of Persuasion Bandwagon Everyone is doing it or in this case buying it; by using this product you will be “in” with the popular crowd. Be aHero- Plays into your need to help save the planet, give to charity, or help find a cure for a disease. Usually advertising their product as “green” or good for the environment. Another technique is that their claim that part of the proceeds will go to a charity. Beautiful People- ii X e Using good-looking models in ads to suggest we'll look like the models if we buy the product. By using this product you will have perfect skin, hair, teeth, health...basically be perfect and beautiful Seems to give us something desirable: “Buy one, get ‘one free.” This technique plays on people's acquisitiveness and greed. Unfortunately, there is no free lunch, Cartoon Character- Uses a cartoon (or including a toy) to make a product appealing to a child. Movies often have “tie-ins” with, products like cereal, candy, and toys. got milk? Which technique works on you the most? Why do you think so?Hyperbole/Puffery Many advertisements rely on what is known as puffery. Puffery is when an advertisement makes a claim that can’t be prove by any evidence. For example, if a movie is advertised as “the hottest movie in America,” how would you evaluate that claim? Ifa product is advertised as “America’s favorite,’ what does that really mean? Notice that many advertisements use comparative adjectives (usually words ending in -er, such as better, faster, stronger) or superlative words (usually ending in —est, such as best, smartest, cleanest). But do these words actually mean anything? For example, if you are told that one package of gum is larger than another package, you can compare the weight of each package, or the number of pieces of gum. But how do you compare which movie is hotter than another? Product Example of Puffery Why is this puffery? D why do you think puffery is used so often by advertisers? |Weasel Words Words or claims that appear substantial upon first look but disintegrate into hollow meaninglessness on analysis are weasels. Imply a promise by using words like “usually” or “chances are” or “up to 25%" or “results may vary.” These words may be technically true but make the consumer think they are getting a better deal ‘Commonly used weasel words include: © helps © like ‘© virtual or virtually © acts or works ‘+ canbe, up to, as much as © refreshes * comforts tackles, fights ‘* the feel of, the look of, looks like ‘* fortified, enriched or strengthened Circle the Weasel Word that turns a statement into an opinion: “Helps control dandruff symptoms with regular use.” "Leaves dishes virtually spotless.” “Listerine fights bad breath.” “Magnavox gives you more." “Coffee-mate gives coffee more body, more flavor "There's no other mascara like it.” "Only Doral has this unique filter system.” ither way, liquid or spray, there's nothing else like i “Lips have never looked so luscious." 10. "The end of meatloaf boredom." 11, "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.” 12. "The perfect little portable for all around viewing with all the features of higher priced sets.’ 13. “Cheerios- Now fortified with iron!” 14. “Windex tackles the toughest grease.” 15